Plutonium Leak at research lab in Idaho

At least six workers were contaminated by low-level plutonium radiation and 11 others were exposed on Tuesday at a U.S. nuclear research lab in Idaho, but the public was not at risk, the government said. The accident at the Idaho National Laboratory occurred inside a deactivated reactor housed in a facility used for remotely handling, processing and examining spent nuclear fuel, radioactive waste and other irradiated materials, the lab said in a series of statements. The so-called Materials and Fuels Complex is located near the edge of the U.S. Energy Department's sprawling 890-square-mile laboratory site in the high desert in eastern Idaho about 38 miles from the city of Idaho Falls. But lab bulletins on the mishap, believed to be the most serious accident at the site in at least four years, said there was no evidence of a release of radiation outside the facility, and "there is no risk to the public or environment." A total of 17 technicians, all employees of lab contractor Battelle Energy Alliance, were working inside the decommissioned research reactor when "a container was opened for normal, scheduled work, resulting in low-level worker exposure to plutonium," the statements said. There were no immediate details from the lab on the precise cause or nature of the radiation release, such as whether it resulted from an equipment malfunction or human error.

Lab spokesman Earl Johnson told Reuters the exposed workers were engaged in an activity and in an area that required no special protective shielding. "We certainly didn't expect this to happen," he said, adding that radiation-control technicians monitoring the area detected the low-level release. The exposed workers underwent initial decontamination procedures at the complex before they were taken to a medical facility elsewhere on the lab grounds for "further evaluation," the lab said. Six of those exposed initially tested positive "for low levels of contamination" based on contamination detected on their skin and clothing, Johnson said. All 17 were undergoing full-body scans to check to determine how much of a radiation dose they may have received, according to the lab. Details of their condition were not immediately provided. Johnson said the "zero-power physics reactor" where the accident occurred was decommissioned in 1992 and had been used to study and test technology for space and commercial nuclear reactors. The plutonium at issue in the accident was contained in leftover reactor fuel, he said. Some 6,000 employees and contractors work at the Idaho National Laboratory, the Energy Department's leading facility for nuclear reactor technology. It opened in 1949 as a national reactor testing station.

According to lab records, Tuesday's incident appeared to be the most serious accident at the lab since June 2007, when a worker was treated for minor burns and smoke inhalation from a small laboratory fire, though no radiation release was reported in connection with that mishap. It was too early to say how serious Tuesday's accident was compared to previous mishaps "since we don't yet know what the consequences of the accident will be," said Liz Woodruff, head of a private, nonprofit nuclear watchdog group in Idaho called the Snake River Alliance. But, she said, "These are a lot of workers" to be exposed. According to lab officials, the worst accident at the laboratory occurred in 1961, when three workers were killed in a reactor explosion there.

No public risk so far but id say this is pretty serious.

anyone starting to think the reactor designs arnt quite upto the years they say they are, i mean how can you build somthing thats never been built and they stamp a "good for 40 years" sticker on the outside....

www.msnbc.msn.com...

anyone else think we kinda of ran away with the idea of nuclear power before actually testing the heck out of it for 20 years?

reply to post by JackBauer


I'm from near there and know people who work there. They have been telling the local citizens there is no plutonium at that facility for years.

About 1997 I think one of their workers went public with the info about the weapons grade plutonium in the UN Storage Vault there on Site. He was all over the radio for a while then you never heard of it anymore. He was the guard who escorted the UN Personal to and from the vault containing the UN's stockpile. They deny it exists.

It's a bit like Area 51 in that since so many work there, all the locals know the truth about the place. Security Clearance only means they only confide in freinds and family, so everyone knows who lives near there.

Thousands of locals have worked there and all of us from there know people who work there. I know two and one handles the waste every day.

They used to have a complete mockup of a nuclear sub you could just see from the road. Again secret but everyone knew. They shut that down though about 1992 I think Admitted it was there after they shut it down as if all the Navy people there were not noticed That whole desert is covered with secret stuff. Odd nobody talks about it here.

They have signs just like Area 51 all along the Arco Highway and if you have a flat tire you immediately get a visit from security and they watch you until you leave. They have signs warning you not to stop on the highway also. Don't know if they are still there, I moved here to Alaska eleven years ago.

Just before I left they bought a bunch of RC aircraft to mount camera's on from the guy I rented my office from. He was the local expert and owned the RC shop. I was there talking with him when they came in and told him what they wanted them for.

He also rented offices to them in the same building. When you would go outside to the parking lot, a jeep would pull up and they would watch you until you went back to your office. Really creepy, I hated that place.